Cities have played a strategic role in military operation in the past. History and demographic studies show that this trend will not only persist but will become a predominant part in military operations. The population, the terrain, and the infrastructure will heavily influence these kinds of operations. Missions in urban terrain will be conducted by small squads with few commands from higher level of the hierarchy. Mission events will be fast paced and highly dynamic, requiring near real time data and information to preserve the soldier's situational awareness. To do so, soldiers will have to carry data gathering sensors with enough processing power to assist them in their mission. Sensors will have to be small and cheap enough to be left behind to provide information on the cleared sectors should the soldiers come back.
Current field technologies do not achieve the above objectives. Existing unattended ground sensors (UGS) used by armed forces worldwide, for example Falcon Watch manufactured by Harris Corp., Scorpion manufactured by Northrop Grumman, OmniSense manufactured by McQ Inc., Classic 2000 manufactured by Thales, MUGI manufactured by Seraphim, etc. provide accurate information only if they are used in specific operational situations and locations. However, in very active areas such as in urban areas, the lack of adaptive processing, networking, and “intelligence” lead to the failure of the sensor to provide usable data and potential threat warnings to the operator.
Unattended ground sensors (UGS) have been used for military surveillance since the Vietnam War. The U.S. Army used seismic and acoustic sensors to monitor the movement of enemy vehicles and personnel in remote locations of the jungles of South East Asia, most notable along the area infamously known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Unfortunately, the performance of these first generation UGS was compromised by the enemy's ability to “spoof” the sensors by providing misleading information for the sensors to relay.
Subsequently, improvements have been made and current systems are significantly more capable due to advances in electronics, data processing and wireless networks. Nevertheless, one main problem remains, namely the inability to provide small, cost-effective UGS devices with suitable performance to be useful in most situations. A typical off-the-shelf UGS (with one simple sensor) costs approximately $20,000. Since the range of sensors can be as short as a few meters, depending on the sensor type and target, it is not cost effective to instrument large areas (e.g. the perimeter of a large camp).
In light of the above, there is a need for solutions which mitigate if not overcome the shortcomings of the prior art.